PTC CoCreate Helps ARRI Maintain Foothold in Hollywood

The Quietest 16 mm Film Camera on the Market, the ARRI 416, Designed with CoCreate Modeling

NEEDHAM, Mass : PTC (Nasdaq: PMTC), The Product Development Company®, today announced that ARRI, internationally renowned film camera specialists, used CoCreate Modeling™ to design the quietest 16 mm film camera on the market. CoCreate is PTC's explicit modeling and data management software that provides companies with a lightweight and flexible approach to designing products. For the past 22 years, ARRI has used CoCreate Modeling and CoCreate Model Manager™ for ultimate design flexibility and efficient project management of all its products. PTC partner, TECHSOFT, provides ARRI with full-service CAD support.

ARRI Austria was founded in Vienna, in 1986, as the research and development center for film cameras and accessories for Munich-based Arnold & Richter. Today, ARRI cameras are used by most every renowned film studio in the world. Because technology, electronics and optics continue to change significantly within short time periods, ARRI develops 80-90 percent of each new camera from scratch. The design team makes radical changes to new models from concept until shortly before the camera goes to market. The CoCreate explicit modeling approach provides the flexibility required to execute this design strategy.

Using CoCreate Modeling, the team created the highly-customized ARRI 416 with less than 20 db(A), making it the quietest 16 mm film camera available. The team made the camera remarkably compact, light weight and service friendly. A prototype was tested under extreme conditions, including temperatures varying from -20° F to 110° F, with up to 95 percent humidity. The 416 was then thoroughly tested by cameramen in a film studio and on various locations, which led to further last minute modifications.

"A film camera must be completely reliable when highly-paid Hollywood stars are on set," said Josef Handler, head of design at ARRI. "The explicit modeling approach from PTC gives us the flexibility we need to quickly and easily make last-minute changes, which is imperative for brand new designs like the 416."

"CoCreate Modeling optimally supports the modification-intensive development of innovative new products," said Martin Neumueller, CoCreate product management director. "The ARRI 416 exemplifies the importance of using the right CAD system for your design strategy."